The Douglass Community Association in Kalamazoo is seeking to raise $100,000 to keep the doors open.

During a news conference Friday afternoon, Douglass officials, church leaders residents and a city commissioner talked about the need to keep the community center in Kalamazoo's Northside neighborhood open despite recent funding cuts.

“The actions of the United Way have really caused this community to look within to find, if you will, a common unity," Rev. Addis Moore, pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, said Friday. “We know that this Douglass Community Center provides opportunities and hope for those who do not naturally have hope and opportunity, and so for that we said that this center is worth investing in.”

The Saving A Legacy campaign aims to collect $50 from 2,000 people within the next 30 days. Work to restore the building located at 1000 W. Paterson St., through a community day of service is set for Aug. 24.

“We are fully invested in the Douglass and we don’t mind giving our time and money to the Douglass,” Rev. Stricjavvar Strickland of The Second Baptist Church, said on behalf of the NAACP and the Northside Ministerial Alliance. “We understand that it is vital and necessary for our community.”

The “All Hands On Deck” community day of service will begin at 9 a.m. Aug. 24 and will include painting, landscaping, dusting, kitchen clean-up minor repairs, window cleaning and more. A Gospel Benefit Concert will follow at 4 p.m. at Gallilee Baptist Church, 1216 N. Westnedge Ave.

“When the funds come in they can be used to run the programs that the Douglass is so adapt in running,” Strickland said.

In the meantime, electricians, plumbers, carpenters and insulators of the Southwest Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council will provide free labor for building repair.

A community forum will be held at the center on Monday, Aug. 19, at 6 p.m. where the public can ask Douglass officials questions and express expectations for the center’s future.

“My task from now on as interim executive director is to continue to make this an excellent place,” Sherry Thomas-Cloud, executive director at the Douglass said. “What will the new envisioned Douglass look like?”

James Liggins, chairman of the Douglass Community Association board, said the amount of support throughout the Kalamazoo community from individuals, businesses and organizations like the Kalamazoo County Democratic Party, which voted Thursday night to support the Douglass fundraising effort, has been like the cavalry arriving to save the day.

“Kalamazoo as a whole understands and recognizes the importance of wrapping your arms around this organization and helping it survive,” Liggins said at Friday's news conference.

Theresa Ghiloni is a reporter at MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.
Contact her at tghiloni@mlive.com.